Stage 4 symptoms and conditions

For me, it has been about 10 years, I think, since I was on lupron. I got a shot every 3 months for almost 2 years. At the time, the Dr. told me that the Lupron was still in the experimental stages but they thought it would be beneficial for me to try. I had a mini lap done because of a softball sized cyst rupturing so she couldn't see anything in my abd with the regular lap. I was diagnosed with stage 4 endo and started not long after on the lupron. I do not envy any woman that has or is going through menopause because the mood swings and hot flashes that I remember, were aweful.
Since the end of my Lupron, many years ago, I have noticed a few things that I never really put in line with the shots, ex...severe headaches, bad memory loss (to the point that I sometimes cannot remember things I just did), joint and muscle pain.
For me, the Lupron was a God send for the endo, I was cleared after about a year and went back 2 years ago for another lap and that was clear of endo but I have bad adhesions.
Before all of this started, I was a very active person with horseback riding, clogging (a type of celtic dance), and a very dependable person. Things are getting worse for me and I am only 32 yrs. old.
This is one of those moments, I know there was a reason for me to write this but now after being so long from reading the other comments, I cannot remember what my point was. No need to delete this though.
If anyone knows of anything that I can do to help with the memory issues, please help me out. All kidding aside, I cannot remember to take the vitamins that are suppose to help me remember.

I am a 27 year old female and I have stage 4 endo and have had lots of rupturing ovarian cysts. The laporoscopy was pretty ineffective for me and I tried birth control and had severe vaginal bleeding during intercourse. So my doctor wanted to do 3 months of Lupron Depot and add back therapy with Premarin.
I have only had one shot of Lupron and that was on 10/16/09. I noticed side effects with in 24 hours. I had severe joint pain especially noticed in the right hip ( I was injected in my right side) severe migraines, awful mood swings, short term memory loss and that was all in my first week on the shot. I started feeling better like 10 days after the shot, but that was only short lived. Now even after three weeks into the shot, I am in so much pain in my joints, it is difficult to take care of my two toddler boys and my home. I now have a crazy rash on my butt, and still have so much pain in my body as well as feeling numb in my toes, left arm, and fingers. This drug appears to be more ineffective than effective and I feel like women need to explore other options before going down this unknown path. I found out through research on the internet that the Premarin that I was taking as an add-back is made from PREGNANT HORSE URINE and that the horses are treated like crap so everyone can get rich off them. There has to be other options for people that have already gone through the nightmare of endometriosis. I would take endo over these side effects any day.

I can relate to many of these experiences. Started out in my 20's with very irregular cycles, went to my first gyn after a miscarriage - the emergency room dr referred me to a dr that was at a fertility clinic. I had no idea why until I was actual a little more "awake" I was diagnosed with polycystic ovaries. I went through at least 6 or 7 different birth control pills, depo provera shot, nuvaring, then back on another birth control pill. finally we started doing the continuous suppression as I was bleeding at least a little bit every single day... for 2 years. I would still have my full blown period every 4 weeks or so, which also included a monster migraine on day one of the menstruation. Not only was my life being altered but I was starting to get anemic. Finally after a month of the continuous suppression my bleeding stopped. As did the menstrual migraines. I continued this way for 4 years. Didn't have a single period or migraine, life was wonderful.. or so it seemed. I have been over weight for most of my adult life. Finally decided to do something about it. I joined the gym with a friend and started losing weight. I dropped 55 pounds until... the dreaded bleeding, pain and hormones got out of control. I started bleeding every single day again. Finally made an appointment with my dr. She stated that when you lose weight it releases estrogen out of your fat cells. Gee, I thought losing weight was supposed to make you feel better!! I went on with it for a while thinking it would stop eventually and it just HAD to get better. In fact, things got worse. I started having horrible abdominal pain, eventually it got to be daily. To the point where I could not stretch or even hyper extend my right leg backwards. My abdomen felt like something had a rubber band tied to it from the inside. My dr said that she suspected endometriosis. However, due to my anemia... we had to wait. So back on the iron pills and wait wait wait. Finally, October 15th I went in for my lap. Sure enough, stage 4 endo, huge cysts on both ovaries. My endo had gone all over the place and attached itself to anything it could. Including folding my bladder in half! Good grief. I thought that I was just getting the weak bladder from getting older (I am 35 by the way). For the next couple of weeks after my surgery I felt pretty good. Finally pain free (still a little bleeding but not much). But, the end of December rolls around and here it is, back with all its fury. The pain is again horrible, my migraines are back, my energy is dwindling. The good life was short lived. My doctor suggested a series of Lupron shots. One shot a month for 6 months. My first shot in January (took me a little bit of time to decide if I wanted to do it) finally bit the bullet and got the shot. First few days, fine, no problem, no relief either but no life altering experience. Then one morning I woke up and realized I was not in pain. It was a strange feeling actually. But the time I got the second shot, no more bleeding, no more pain... However, the hot flashes, night sweats and the emotions came on. Holy cow. Drama drama drama. I could find any reason on the planet to argue, with anyone. Thank god I have a very understanding family and an even more wonderful partner. I think he has the patience of a saint. I still don't know how he puts up with me. If I am not trying to find some reason to pick a fight then I am crying like a baby... for hours and hours. These hormones are so out of control. I honestly don't know what is worse, the pain or feeling like the world is going to end in the next 2 minutes if I don't get this spill picked up.. I literally cried for 2 hours Saturday because my cat knocked a stupid bottle of car wax off a shelf in the back room. Good lord, I had the most horrible feelings coming over me and just could not stop crying. I bought a new bed 2 weeks ago and let me tell you. If I am not on one of my 13 hour sleep fests then I am laying in it crying and feeling sorry for myself. Or the even better part of indegestion or my favorite part.. gas. I honestly don't know if I can go on like this. I made an appointment to see my doctorr this Friday to determine what she thinks will happen if I don't complete the other 3 shots. just give me back the pain if you have to!

My 14 year old daughter received her first Guardasil shot in May 2008 second in September and was diagnosed with Hodgkins Lymphoma in November 2008. The diagnosis was questioned at my daughters Oncologist in conjunction with the shot. I never heard anything else after that. Luckily she is in remission after Chemo and many treatments

I just went to the Dr. for my second Lupron injection and to get some help with the side effects. Menopausal/emotional me, started crying!!! Gawd! I went in with my list of side effects from the last 3 months (and it was long!) and wondered what was worse, the pain of endometriosis or the life changing side effects of Lupron. My Dr. is wonderful and spent an hour with me; he decided to put me on Provera (progesterone or add-back therapy) for a week to see if the side effects improve. If they do, I get my second dose of Lupron in a week. If not, we stop it all and let my body slowly try to get back to normal (although I have never known what "normal" is since endometriosis) and see how the "therapy" worked. He is strongly encouraging me to follow through with the 6 month course as that is the recommended length of time for the best results. I'm 5'8" and have lost 10 lbs. in the last three months, I'm down to 107 lbs. He told me to try and eat more if I could (although my nausea is constant 24hrs. a day) and make sure to take a daily vitamin and calcium for bone loss. He said that he has never heard of blurred vision to be a side effect of Lupron, "But every woman is effected differently." I'm really hoping the Provera works - any kind of relief is better than this! I'm still having 3-4 hotflashes every hour with extreme exhaustion/fatigue, night sweats, daily migraine headaches, nausea 24hrs. a day, life changing mood swings, and shaky hands. He kept reminding me that this only 6 months out of my life - it's not forever ... forever feels like an awful long time when you can barely get out of bed!

I began taking Aromasin 1 year ago for advanced (Stage 4) BC with mets to the bones. I have increasingly had severe joiont aches, my hands and fingers ache so badly at times, I feel I can barely hold a book, or type, etc. My hands and fingers tingle and feel numb. I also have severe wrist pain so much so that I sometimes use a heating pad for some relief. I do not wish to discontinue it because it seems to be working and my Oncologist says the side effects are more tolerable than chemo, which I have already had before. I feel like my Dr. sometimes thinks I am exaggerating my pain levels, but I struggle with daily activities. I am on Fentanyl patches and even have to resort to Hydrocodone when it becomes to intolerable.

I;m only 17 and this is the third time that I've been on Lupron. It does suck at time's but you learn how to deal with it. Last month I had my 7th surgery for endo. In June when I turn 18 they are thinking about doing a hysterectomy, which I really need. The first time I was on Lupron I gained about 20 or 30 pounds. But the last two times I've actually LOST weight. Right now I'm experiencing hair loss, weakness, and headaches.I cry a lot, anything bad or anything people say I get really upset. Anger is like no other. Each day is different which is very difficult because my friends don't believe how I feel. From having stage 4 endo , I had to be pulled out of school and put into home schooling.

I read up on Lupron and was very hesitant in taking the shot, However, my doctor convinced me that it would be helpful with my Endo which is a stage 4. My doctor said well any medicine is like a restaurant if the side effects are bad then everyone knows just like if you get bad service.
Well I got my first shot about a month ago and I think I should have listened to myself, I traded one pain for a ton of others.
I have severe depression at times and the bone pain is almost more than I can bare. I live on Advil to keep the pain under control. I can barely get out of bed in the morning b/c I hurt so bad and I can barely walk. I am losing hair and it is thinning out horribly. I too have put on weight with regular exercise and watching my diet.
I get heart palpitations to where my heart feels like it is going to jump out of my chest and this is the first month. I am afraid of what the next month will bring. I am only 35 and didn't want to get a hysterectomy.

I am experiencing hair thinning with Temodar, yet I don't see it listed as a side effect anywhere. Is this a known side effect? I am taking Temodar for metastatic melanoma (stage 4).

My doctor just prescribed Zocor to me on 12/22/04. He did not even check my cholestrol. I'm a diabetetic. My sugar has been around 400. I went 2 weeks without meds. My doctor would not prescribe me with any meds, since I had to rescedule an appointment to see him. I was reading some of these complaints about Zocor, and I was shocked. A lot of the complainees, are on 20 mg or less. My doctor has me doing 40 mg. I only took it once. I think I will learn from you folks' mistakes. I'm starting to think I may have a quack for a doctor. He misdiagnosed me, when I had lymphoma. When I had sensations of being choked and pressure in my head, he said it was allergies. 6 months later, I complained again about the same simtoms, he said it was asthma. I was forced to go to the hospital, when I almost passed out while driving my truck. After a 10 hour visit at the emergency room and numorous tests, I was found to have a tumor the size of a baseball next to my heart. The tumor was pushing on my wind pipe and the major artery that supplies blood to the right side of my body. I was stage 4. As for side effects of Zocor, I'm going to hold off on using Zocor, so I don't get any.

i have a question. I have heard that this medication does noot interfere with stage 4 restorative sleep patterns. Could someone please comment on this. Thank You Lanna